


Happy Holidays

by that_one_urchin



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Christmas, College, Easter, F/F, Fourth of July, Holidays, New Year's Eve, St. Patrick's Day, Thanksgiving
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-27
Updated: 2020-11-27
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:28:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27733069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/that_one_urchin/pseuds/that_one_urchin
Summary: Hope and Josie throughout the holidays. Ft. the Super Squad finding out they’re dating.
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson/Josie Saltzman
Comments: 55
Kudos: 382





	1. Thanksgiving

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no merge because i choose happiness

Lizzie isn’t really into Thanksgiving. She thinks of it as a glorified dinner with an unhealthy amount of turkey, but it’s her turn to plan dinner this year and she will _not_ fail.

It can’t be like the last Friendsgiving, which Josie planned, and didn’t include any meat. God forbid it ends up like Landon’s turn, in freshman year of college, where he dutifully informed them that he hadn’t celebrated many Thanksgivings in foster care, after serving them a dinner of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

(Raf is his buddy, so he wolfed down five of those salty-sweet sandwiches, and MG was too nice to complain, but everyone else was not impressed.)

Lizzie refuses to settle for a mediocre meal.

Her food will be spectacular.

Groundbreaking.

_Perfect_.

She texts (because who calls someone in 2035) the group at 7 a.m. sharp with food assignments. MG’s nana makes some quality mac and cheese, and she gave her grandson the recipe, so that’s taken care of. Rafael and Jed are on meat duty, and both send Lizzie an excessive amount of thumbs-up emojis to express their glee at being able to handle the turkey. She gives Landon very careful instructions about the gravy, although she is tempted to put him on bird duty for joke’s sake. She puts Kaleb on cranberry sauce and greens, and hesitates when it comes to _Hope and Josie._

Yes, _Hope and Josie_.

Not Hope _and_ Josie, but _Hope and Josie_. A pair. A couple. Possibly? Maybe? Hopefully?

Lizzie gives Hope and Josie the task of making a pie. A simple deed. She can’t afford to give them something too difficult, especially when she can’t trust them to keep their hands off of each other long enough to cook something halfway decent.

(They claim to not be dating, but ever since they got an apartment together they’ve been acting suspicious as hell and Lizzie doesn’t want to risk it.)

Three days before Thanksgiving, she opens their **Three Musketeers** group chat and texts them:

**Lizzie** : you’re on pie duty. don’t mess it up and DO NOT make pecan

**Hope** : Roger that. Pecan is gross.

**Josie** : i like pecan :(

**Hope** : Then we can make pecan.

**Lizzie** : NO PECAN SO HELP ME GOD

Lizzie huffs and tucks her phone away, thinking of how she’ll probably be greeted with a pecan pie once the holiday comes. Hope is too whipped to deny Josie anything, even horrible nut pies.

(It’s cute.)

(That still won’t prevent Lizzie from murdering her sister and her sister’s possible lover over a pie.)

—

Thanksgiving comes.

The first knock on her door is a rapid, overeager sound, like someone allowed their energetic dog to pounce at the wood. It’s a familiar noise. Lizzie smiles good-naturedly as she sets the container of cornbread on her kitchen counter for it to cool.

“Wait up, MG!”

MG manages to lift her into the air with one arm during their hug. He’s different. Sturdier now, and sporting a patch of facial hair, but he’s still MG.

He’s wearing a Green Lantern shirt.

“It’s good to see you, nerd.” Lizzie says, once her feet are safely back on the ground. She eyes his mac and cheese. It’s golden brown and perfect. Of course MG would pull through for her.

He shuts the door and follows her back into the kitchen, chuckling. “You’re one to talk.”

Lizzie and MG are deep into an argument about the Hulk vs. Superman by the time Jed, Rafael, and Landon get there. She hears them coming down the hall, but she knows that they’re close because MG smirks silently at the sound of the boys wrestling. Sometimes, Lizzie wants super hearing, but most times she’s glad she doesn’t have to overhear any of Rafael and Jed’s back and forth.

She was actually hoping it would be Hope and Josie next instead of the boys. They live close, there’s no excuse for being late, unless they’re… _canoodling_.

“What’s up Lizzie?” Jed always sort of smells like a wet dog and she definitely wasn’t expecting the hug she gets from him. “Where’s your bathroom? I’ve got to birth a turd.”

Ew.

“Down the hall, to your right. Don’t touch any of my shampoo.” She instructs and gratefully takes the turkey he forces into her hands.

Lizzie clears her throat. “Raf, hi.”

“Hey, Liz.”

Raf’s hug doesn’t linger for very long. He keeps his hands high on her waist and barely touches her, like he’s still too afraid to after what they did in high school. After patting his bald head, Lizzie shares a curt nod with Landon and accepts the gravy. He isn’t much of a hugger. She’s fine with that.

Hope and Josie arrive last.

Scratch that.

_Hope and Josie_ arrive last with pecan pie.

“Seriously?” Lizzie groans. Would it be too hard to switch sisters with Kaleb? Kym wouldn't do this to her. “I gave you one instruction and—“

Josie basically tries to run Lizzie over with the force of her hug. They go stumbling backwards.

“Alright, alright.” She grumbles, patting Josie’s back. “You’re not disowned.”

“You can’t disown me. That’s not how it works.”

“Yes I can.”

“No, you can’t.”

“Yes, I can!”

“No, you—!”

Hope clears her throat. She has a black shirt and jeans on. Big shocker.

“You’re on thin ice, Mikaelson.” Lizzie may not be able to give away Josie, since they’re twins, but she definitely doesn’t share blood with Hope the Pie Traitor. “You betrayed me. And on a holiday!”

Hope just smiles. “Nice to see you, too, Lizzie.”

Ugh. Whatever. No one is taking her selection of pie seriously.

Lizzie lets the subject drop but once they start to eat dinner she serves Hope the charred, black bit of turkey that Raf and Jed fucked up. The rest of the food is great. They dig through it all eagerly, making very little conversation until they start to get up for seconds. They joke around with each other, enjoying the freedom of adulthood and the ability to legally drink wine.

At some point, Rafael brings up his new girlfriend and grins brightly while explaining how they met. “She was standing behind me at a football game on Wednesday. I got up for nachos and tripped, then spilled my drink on her… but she was cool about it.”

Jed laughs and shakes his head. He doesn’t bother to swallow his food before responding.

“Dude, you have no game. You’re never going to find a mate like that.”

Rafael frowns, seeming a little embarrassed.

Hope snorts. “Mates aren’t real.”

Josie’s eyes are soft and their twin-connection is suddenly tinged with sadness. She sips her wine and her lips come away from the glass ruby red and pouted.

After a couple more minutes of eating and, more importantly, wine drinking, Lizzie’s fork slips from her grasp.

“Oops!” Lizzie dives down to get it.

Rafael chuckles. “Lightweight.”

She makes sure to pinch his leg while under the table. He yelps and Lizzie smiles triumphantly.

Lizzie keeps on searching for her fork. Where the hell could one utensil disappear to? She’s getting flashbacks of that time a leprechaun stole one of her pillows during senior year and she thought it was Alyssa. She pats around the floor. Kaleb has his shoes off, Hope and Josie are holding hands, and MG is wearing ridiculous bright green Crocs.

No fork.

Wait.

Hope and Josie are holding hands.

…

Hope and Josie are holding hands!

Lizzie shoots out from under the table and stares at them. Josie has a light red tint on her cheeks, Hope isn’t making eye contact with anyone, and they’re holding hands! Secretly! Oh. Lizzie knew they were dating. She didn’t _know_ , but she knew. She just can’t believe they’re keeping it from her.

Pie traitors and now this? _Blatant lying?_

“You okay, Lizzie?” Hope asks slowly, like Lizzie is the crazy one. Which she isn’t.

She was right.

“Yeah.” Lizzie sits back down, fork-less, and tries to eat her turkey with a spoon. “Yeah. Just, you know, chilling. Being thankful.”

“Um… okay.”

Lizzie’s head is spinning.

How long have they been dating? Are they going to get married? Are they already married? What if they are going to have kids? Oh, god, does this mean that Lizzie is going to be in-laws with the Mikaelsons? Is Josie going to change her name?

Josette Mikaelson?!

That… actually sounds kind of good. Ugh. Damn it.

“Let’s cut the pie.” Lizzie stands up, if only to get some air. “Shall we?”

Josie nods. “Sure. I’ll help.”

“Same.” Hope stands up, too, which would be odd if she wasn’t so clearly doing it just to follow Josie around. Lizzie sees things so clearly now.

It’s obvious.

“You make really good pie, Jo.” Hope says, softer than she needs to. She tickles Josie’s side to get her to giggle.

Josie beams. “Thank you, Hope.”

It’s _really_ obvious.

Lizzie even catches Hope sneaking glances at Josie’s ass while they plate the slices. She sort of wants to claw her own eyes out with that lost fork and also sort of wants to offer to be their maid of honor.

They eat pie.

They eat pie and Hope rubs Josie’s stomach for her when she complains about eating too much. They eat pie and Josie laughs super loudly at all of Hope’s unfunny jokes. They eat pie and Josie snakes her legs under the table to rest in Hope’s lap. They eat pie and Hope sends adoring, warm glances to Josie the whole time.

When they’re done, they all pile on the couch to watch football. Lizzie expects Hope and Josie to sit together. What she doesn’t expect is for her sister to plant herself on Hope’s lap.

Hope smiles and tugs Josie closer in by her hips, lazily draping her arm over her waist and saying something quiet that causes Josie to laugh flirtily.

The sight makes something horrible and sad curl in Lizzie’s stomach.

She thought they would tell her.

Why wouldn’t they tell her? Lizzie texts them to let them know whenever she so much as sees someone on the street make a bad fashion choice.

“Scootch, bird boy.” Lizzie ushers Landon to the side so she can sit next to him on the ground.

He does as he’s told. “Are you ever going to stop calling me that?”

“Are you ever going to stop turning into a bird?”

“Phoenix.” Landon corrects uselessly. “And, no.”

“Then, no.”

Landon frowns and looks off to the side. Landon has never really been on her radar, despite being in her apartment years after graduation, but this time she follows his line of sight. His head is turned to face the couch, where Hope and Josie are busy cuddling.

Ouch.

She can’t imagine what it’s like to see your two exes together. She’ll never know that feeling, of course, because she’s way too awesome for that particular brand of pathetic.

“That must suck.” Lizzie blurts, a bit tipsy and too warm from the food in her stomach.

Landon frowns again. That might just be his face. “What must suck?”

“Hope and Josie dating—“

Landon spits out the very expensive wine that she bought, coughing vehemently. Rafael leans forward to pound on his back until the coughing ceases.

“Jesus!” Lizzie moves out of the splash zone. “Get a grip.”

Landon has no grip. Or chill. Just wine all over his shirt and eyes that won’t stop very obviously staring at Hope and Josie in disbelief.

(Not that Hope and Josie notice. Hope should be able to hear what Lizzie just said, with her super ears and all, but she’s too busy watching Josie’s mouth to realize anything is going on.)

“They’re _what?!_ ”

“Chill out, Chicken Little. It’s just a theory.” Lizzie shrugs and swipes his wine away from him. _Her_ wine, technically. “I’m not totally sure. Just…”

Lizzie glances back, catches a glimpse of Hope _possibly_ pressing a kiss to Josie’s shoulder.

“...just calm down.”


	2. Christmas

Landon likes college more than high school.

High school had been brutal. He was bullied for the first half of it, constantly shoved into lockers and toilets by meatheads with small brains. For the second half of it, he attended the Salvatore Boarding School. Which should have been fun. In a lot of ways, it was better than Mystic Falls High, but it was also worse. Landon was hunted down by multiple monsters and his mud father, got his heart ripped out, fell straight to his death, stabbed, dumped, drowned repeatedly, and… you get the point.

College is better. It has all the freedom from the Salvatore School and none of the monsters.

He also made friends.

Well, two.

“Hey, Landon!” Tim and Charlie call out to him as they catch him approaching. The twins constantly remind him of Josie and Lizzie, especially since Tim and Charlie look like the boy versions of them.

“Hey, guys!”

Tim is busy with a burrito, so he raises one hand and splits his fingers in the Star Trek symbol. He also gives Landon a nod, which Landon returns.

“Your balls are mine, young Jedi!” Charlie whips out an invisible lightsaber and pretends to swing it at Landon’s crotch. Landon jumps backwards, making a whooshing sound as he pulls out his own invisible lightsaber and splits Charlie’s head in two with it.

“Ah!”

Charlie fake-wails in pain dramatically, rolling all around the campus grass with his head in his hands. Landon high-fives Tim.

They stop when a group of pretty girls walk by, all of them glancing at the boys in rude amusement.

“Hi, ladies!” Tim waves his greasy burrito hand at them.

They giggle (again, rudely) and leave.

“Tough break, Timmy.” Landon sits beside him on the grass. Another thing about college he likes: he’s the ladies man in his friend group. Tim and Charlie have never dated anyone, so it’s Landon 2 and them 0. “You’ll do better next time.”

Charlie bursts into laughter at that and Tim flips him off.

Tim shrugs dejectedly. “Whatever. What are you doing for the holidays, dude?”

Landon doesn’t know.

He never really thought about it. For the past few years since they’ve graduated, Landon has been meeting up with Rafael at cheap restaurants for Christmas lunch, but this year Raf has got some hot new girlfriend, Ava. He only texted Landon a couple days ago to let him know he’s staying at Ava’s parents place for Christmas break. So, now Landon has no plans for the first time in a while.

Landon can manage, of course. The majority of his holidays have sucked. The problem is, he doesn’t want to manage. He has friends, people who care about him, he isn’t a sad abandoned child anymore.

“Uh…” Landon scratches his chin, trying to think of an answer. “I’m staying with an old friend.”

His old friend is Mr. Saltzman.

(Mr. Saltzman has been trying to get Landon to call him Alaric, but it still feels weird to say.)

After lunch with his friends, Landon returns to his room and calls Mr. Saltzman. He picks up after a couple rings and they talk for a short while, just catching up until Landon finally asks him.

“Sure!” Mr. Saltzman agrees, surprisingly easily. “The more the merrier.”

“It’s that simple?”

Mr. Saltzman sighs at the genuine shock. “Yes, of course it’s that simple. Call before you get here.”

So.

It’s that simple.

—

Landon gets there as soon as Christmas break starts. He’s welcomed readily by Mr. Saltzman, who claps him on the back too hard. Josie hugs him quick and tight around the shoulders. Lizzie doesn’t hug, but she does inform him that she set up a ‘bird’s nest’ on the couch, which consists of a thick blanket and two fluffy pillows. Caroline is not there when he arrives and he’s glad for it. It’s still hard for him to meet new people.

He tries to make himself useful, not be too loud, and keep his head down. It’s what he used to do in new foster homes.

That lasts for two days.

“You’re being way too tense.” Josie points out. She sits beside him on the couch. “You can be yourself, you know. Have a beer or something. We’ve all known you for years.”

Landon smiles tentatively. “Okay.”

After that, he loosens up a bit. He spends more time with Josie. They watch Christmas movies and he has no problem letting her force him into wearing an ugly sweater or helping her with the hot chocolate. It’s fun. It’s also weird sometimes.

Sometimes, Josie randomly gets up and leaves to go take a phone call and returns with a giant grin on her face. Sometimes, she gets a text from someone named **Dummy** (it’s a loving dummy, he knows that because there’s a purple heart emoji) and will giggle, holding the screen up to her face.

He thinks she has a secret boyfriend.

Or girlfriend.

Or just a secret, in general, but it’s not his place to ask.

(Landon thinks of what Lizzie blurted out to him on Thanksgiving, that Hope and Josie are dating, but he can’t believe it because they would have told him. Wouldn’t they?)

Caroline arrives on the fourth day and kisses him on both of his cheeks in greeting. She’s beautiful, bright, and full of glee, just how she looked in the pictures Josie showed him in high school. They all help set up and decorate the Christmas tree that day with Caroline and Lizzie’s instructions. It feels a little bit weird to be bossed around by her, since she looks permanently seventeen and he is in his twenties, but she holds herself extremely well.

He wonders how old she actually is. It doesn’t seem right to ask. Landon doesn’t want her to hate him or anything. He’s already on thin ice for breaking up with Josie.

On Christmas Day, Landon wakes up to the smell of cookies and the sound of someone screaming.

“Hope!”

It’s Josie. She sounds… excited.

Wait. Did she just say Hope? As in _Hope_ _Hope_ , like Hope Mikaelson?

Landon sits up and blinks blearily, looking in the direction of all the yelling. He gets a blurry glance at Hope and Josie hugging at the doorway. For a second, he thinks that they are kissing, but then he blinks again and that image is gone.

Huh.

He definitely needs to get that out of his brain. If one of the witches somehow figures out how to read minds, Landon will be completely screwed.

Why is Hope here?

Hope wanders into the living room, head turned away from him as she speaks to Josie. “You’re not going to be able to believe what I got Lizzie. It’s perfect, I…”

Hope freezes.

Landon freezes.

Hope is wearing a green, ugly Christmas sweater that hangs down past her hips. It’s obviously well worn, the fabric soft-looking and a little faded, the stitching imperfectly homemade. It looks familiar. He is pretty sure that he saw Josie knitting it last year.

“Oh, uh.” Hope appears uncertain of what to do. She also has a casserole. “Landon. I didn’t know you were coming.”

“I didn’t have anywhere else to go, so…” It feels pathetic to say and Hope smiles sadly at him.

It’s awkward.

It’s really awkward.

It shouldn’t be but it is. Hope actually looks sort of embarrassed for some reason, maybe cause she got forced into wearing that sweater, but that isn’t something to blush about. Josie has them all wearing her bad clothing.

“I’m going to shower.” Landon announces, just to get out of this strange situation. Hope nods.

He passes Lizzie on the way to the shower.

She’s yelling, “Mikaelson! You better not have brought another pecan pie!”

Landon tries not to shower too long or too fast. He doesn’t want to run up their water bill, but hot water is a luxury he’ll always treasure. He forces himself to get out after a while, toweling off his dark hair and drying the tops of his shoulders.

He’s got his clothes on and is tying his shoelaces when he hears two voices floating in through the thin walls.

_“Why didn’t you tell me he was going to be here?”_

_“I didn’t think it was a big deal...”_

There’s some rustling, more whispered words he can’t understand from voices he can’t recognize.

Landon moves on to tying his left shoe.

And then...

_“Please, don’t be mad.”_

_“I’m not.”_ Is that Hope? _“Come here, love.”_

(Love. As a pet name? Definitely Hope.)

There’s a brief second of pure silence and then a hard, loud thud against the opposite wall, where he knows Josie’s bedroom is, followed by a low giggling sound and a few breathy sighs. Breathy _moans_. And then—

Holy shit.

Landon quickly turns on the sink, tripping over himself in his haste, because the sound of his ex-girlfriends making out in the next room is not something he needs to hear. Not right now. Not ever. The sound of the rushing water blocks out any other noises, but he’s still shocked and feels like a bit of a pervert.

What the hell?

Since when are they dating? Why wouldn’t they say anything? Who else knows? Lizzie? Alaric?

Oh god.

What if everyone knows and they just didn’t tell him because they think he’s too fragile or… or _something_ to deal with this information. That’s a dick move. He’s fine. He’s cool. He’s chill.

(Okay, no he isn’t.)

He decides to call Rafael.

“Hey, man. Merry Christmas.” Landon greets. He leaves the sink on, just in case Hope can hear him talking. “How are things going over there?”

“Good, good. You?”

“Good.” He replies automatically. “What do you do if your ex-girlfriend shows up to Christmas all of a sudden and then you kinda-sorta overhear her making out with your other ex-girlfriend, but they don’t know you heard them? Hypothetically.”

“Um… hypothetically?”

“Yes.”

“Uh, jeez, dude.” Rafael exhales, chucking a bit. Landon doesn’t find it funny. “Don’t say anything. Act natural. Chill out, try to enjoy the holiday. Have a beer… hypothetically.”

Landon goes back outside and has that beer. He splits a six pack with Mr. Saltzman, who seems to be surprised that someone else is drinking besides him.

“Don’t teach the boy bad habits.” Caroline scolds, slapping Mr. Saltzman’s arm in passing. Again, it’s odd to be called ‘the boy’ by someone who’s a teen in appearance. “Landon, do you want to come help me with the mac and cheese?”

He gets off his ass, because he doesn’t want to seem ungrateful. “Sure, Ms. Forbes.”

“Call me Caroline, please.”

“Caroline. Right.”

The mac and cheese doesn’t actually need much help. All Landon needs to do is kneel by it and watch to make sure it doesn’t burn. He gets the sense that Caroline only asked him to because she doesn’t like the idea of two people drinking their problems away on the holidays, which is fair.

Several minutes later, Josie comes bouncing into the kitchen, looking awfully cheery and wearing a new top. A turtleneck. Her lips look plumper than usual, swollen, red, and obviously just kissed.

Landon peers around the doorway to spot Hope sitting on the couch, between Mr. Saltzman and Lizzie. Her cheeks are uncharacteristically pink and she can barely look Mr. Saltzman in the eye when he asks her to pass the remote. Landon stares at her for what seems like forever until the timer goes off for the mac and cheese.

He pulls his sleeves down over his palms before he grabs the food, so he doesn’t burn himself.

“Okay, guys. That’s our last dish.” Caroline tells them, and calls, “Alaric, Lizzie, Hope! Dinner is ready!”

Alaric, Lizzie, and Hope flood into the kitchen. Hope tries to steal a bit of the ham, but Josie swats her hand away. Instead of growling or scowling or doing any of the usual, angry things Hope would normally do, she just smiles, all lovesick and dopey.

It should hurt. It really should, but it doesn’t. He’s moved on and, honestly, he’s glad to see her so happy.

(If he notices them playing footsie under the table later, he doesn’t say anything.)


	3. New Year’s

Here is what MG has learned since graduation:

He now knows how to survive off of bread, half a can of artificial cheese and thirteen drops of tuna blood.

He now knows that very little matters as a teen, because he looks back on his high school years and can barely remember the last names of his peers and only knows the first names of some.

He now knows that Lizzie Saltzman will never date him. Ever. Not even in a billion years.

A while ago, some part of him had hope that she would eventually turn to look at him, really look at him, and go _oh, there you are, I’ve been waiting for you all this time._ Maybe that’s cheesy. No, it definitely is. That part of him died with graduation and so did his heart, just a little. Loving Lizzie is a hopeless endeavor. Life goes on, just not for him, and while he stays baby-faced and young, Lizzie starts to grow to look like an actual adult.

And she’ll continue to grow. And MG will not.

So, it’s hopeless. What would they do if they got together? Lizzie doesn’t want to be a vampire, and MG has no cure for himself. She isn’t going to want to be in her thirties or forties or older, on a date with a physical teenager.

How long would it take them to break up? A few weeks? A few months? A few more years?

No.

MG can’t do it.

He won’t.

So, when his invitation to the Saltzman family’s annual New Year’s Eve party arrives, MG tells himself he won’t be going. He still reads over it (because why not, he’s _sulking_ ), skimming the printed letter more than he should. He gets an odd feeling in his gut to turn it over, although most of the time when he receives these they’re blank on the back - but this is not most of the time.

The back reads: _you better be there, nerd. I’ll miss you if you aren’t. XOXO._

Hugs and kisses? In _Lizzie’s_ handwriting?

MG holds the envelope to his chest, trying hard not to do something stupid like swoon. He fails.

—

He goes to the party.

MG likes to consider himself a nice guy who tries not to hate on people, but Derek fucking sucks.

Who is Derek, you might ask?

Derek is Lizzie’s date. Derek is over six feet tall and has, like, zero percent body fat. Derek looks like Sebastian’s clone, which is creepy but also predictable. Derek has a Porsche, because his parents are loaded and he’s on his way to go be a doctor or something after college. Derek keeps on referring to MG as ‘kiddo’ whenever they run into each other at the party. Derek has his hand on Lizzie’s ass and is squeezing, quite obviously.

MG hates Derek.

He also hates this party. It should be fun. Usually, it is. Most of his friends are here. Kaleb is doing his best impression of a seagull to make some girl (who may or may not be Rafael’s girlfriend) laugh. Rafael is off in the kitchen, getting more drinks with an already drunk Landon. Hope and Josie are sharing a single chair while watching the ball drop with the adults. Lizzie is, of course, sucking face with Derek the Porsche-having, ass-grabbing, future doctor.

“Oh, boy.” Kaleb somehow ends up at his side. MG’s eyes never stray from Lizzie. “You’re not still into her, are you?”

“No.” MG lies.

Kaleb raises his eyebrows. “You sure? ‘Cause you’re staring pretty hard.”

“I’m sure.”

“Really?”

“ _Yes_.” It comes out a little slurred. Okay, a lot. He really doesn’t know what happened. One minute, MG was watching Lizzie and sipping tequila, and now he’s tipsy with a capital T and the bottle is no more.

(Where did it go? Bottles don’t just disappear.)

It wouldn’t usually have a big effect on him. The whole vampire thing gives him a supernaturally high alcohol tolerance. He must have had way too much to drink, but it’s not his fault. Blame teenage MG and teenage MG’s lingering feelings for a girl who will never like him back.

Kaleb just laughs and shakes his head, like he can read MG’s mind. “You should drink some water, man.”

MG will _not_ drink some water.

He’s fine.

Totally.

He just has to pee. So. Yep. He’ll be standing up now, going to find a bathroom. Fuck. He hasn’t been drunk in so long. So, so long. How the hell does anyone walk? He’s too afraid he’ll stumble and fall and die. Or re-die? Is that the correct term?

He would ask Lizzie, but, well… ugh.

“ _Five_!”

Oh, great. Counting.

“ _Four_!”

Someone puts a party hat on him and drags him out onto the dance floor (aka the living room).

“ _Three_!”

The party hat is a shiny gold color and rimmed with neon pink. It’s the kind of ridiculous, grossly bright thing he would usually love, but instead it just gets glitter in his eyes.

“ _Two_!”

MG wants to talk to Josie about this, but when he tries to scan the crowd for her she’s gone. Damn. She gives the best, comforting hugs.

“ _One_!”

The crowd explodes in cheers.

“ _Happy New Year!_ ”

Derek grabs Lizzie and dips her, like they’re in a fucking romantic movie or something. It’s as if he is watching a car crash. He can’t look away. MG has seen Lizzie kiss a handful of guys before, but it’s been a while since this has happened and he isn’t prepared for the movie-magic of it. It knocks the wind out of him.

Someone starts playing a pop song. MG backs away until it doesn’t sound so loud. Sorry, but he doesn’t want to hear about three people getting down and dirty in a hot tub, or whatever, through his sensitive ears.

He walks all the way down the hall, passed the guest/twins rooms and to the bathroom, but he can still hear the booming bass and sexual lyrics.

It’s all he can hear.

MG throws open the bathroom door and gapes at what he sees.

Josie is perched up on the sink, back against the mirror, her eyes shut tight while her hands travel up and down Hope’s sides. Hope stands in the space between her legs, pressing their mouths together hurriedly and prying high-pitched noises from Josie’s lips.

(What. The. Fuck?

Is everyone making out these days?)

And maybe it’s just the fact that the alcohol still hasn’t worn off yet, but—

“Um.” MG blurts loudly, with zero tact. He rushes to fling a hand up and cover his eyes. “Sorry. I’m. Uh. I didn’t see anything.”

MG fully intends to leave now before Hope tries to murder him or something, but while his eyes are covered one of them grabs him and drags him forward. The door shuts behind him. Great. He should have stayed home.

“Listen, Hope.” MG squeaks, hand still set firmly in place. “I want to live!”

“Oh my god. Shut up.”

He shuts up.

Sort of.

“I really didn’t see anything. At all. I mean, if I did see something, I don’t know why you would want to hide it, because you know we’re supportive of whatever it is you two were... _not_ doing. Actually, I’ve always thought you guys would make a cute couple. Not that I saw anything! Just putting it out there, you know. Just me, MG, talking. Feel free to stop me at any moment.”

At some point, his hand fell once he realized he wouldn’t see anymore kissing, and now all he can see is the embarrassment on Josie’s face and the annoyance on Hope’s.

“Take a breath.” Josie instructions, squeezing his shoulder comfortingly.

MG takes a breath.

Inhales.

(Hope and Josie were making out. AH! AH! AH! It was like seeing your sisters paw at each other in your old teacher’s crusty-ass bathroom.)

Exhales.

“Would you chill out?” Hope slaps his chest. That doesn’t help the whole ‘take a breath’ thing. “We aren’t dating.”

Josie frowns. “We _aren’t?_ ”

Um. Shit.

MG really wishes he had just stayed outside and listened to trashy music while watching the love of his life get it on with a douchebag. It would be much better than this. Josie’s already short skirt has accidentally hiked up high enough that MG is seeing entirely too much thigh. Plus, she looks pissed off. _Really_ pissed off. And sad. And Hope just looks confused, which is the worst, because throughout high school all Hope did was make the plans.

Hope is never confused. Josie is rarely angered by small things like this. Unless this isn’t a small thing? MG doesn’t even know what’s going on.

“Oh. I—“ Hope opens and closes her mouth like a goldfish. Her lips are dark red, stained with Josie’s lipstick. “Um? I mean… we’ve never been on a date.”

“We were just making out!”

Hope stammers awkwardly. “We can go on a date if you want. Trust me, I’d love to get…”

MG takes the chance to escape, backing out into the hall.


	4. St. Patrick’s Day

If someone had told Jed in high school that in the future he would be spending St. Patrick’s Day in glitter and a skirt, he would have punched them and told them not to _spread that gay shit around_.

College Jed is more refined than that.

For one thing, he thinks that he can definitely pull off the whole glittery St. Patty’s day look, sparkly green heels and all. He can _so_ rock it. In like, a manly way. And for another, he’s got no problem with gay people. He never really did, not even in high school, he just liked to be an asshole back then. Now, as he said earlier, he’s more refined, and he’s actually friends with a few not-straight people.

“Hope! Josie!” Jed has to scream into the phone to be heard over the blaring music. Fuck. He has glitter in his eye. The party roars around him with no signs of stopping, but Jed is drunk off his ass and close to vomiting. He needs to stop, even if the party won’t. “Can you come pick me up?”

It’s silent on the other line.

For a second, Jed thinks that they won’t actually come to his rescue. Sure, rescuing everyone had been Hope’s _thing_ when they were younger, but maybe now that’s different.

“Um…” Hope says, finally, which isn’t a good sign.

Jed decides it will be easier to hear her if he gets away from the speakers. He walks (stumbles) out of the bar and rests his bare feet on the cold floor under him. His feet are killing him. _Stupid heels_. It wasn’t even his idea to put them on earlier, some chick dared him and she was pretty and he was drunk, and now she’s nowhere to be found and he is still drunk.

So.

It’s been a rough night.

He’s _tired_ and he’s still wearing a skirt and Hope is taking far too long to respond, which hurts his feelings a bit. They’re supposed to be _friends_. He knows their apartment is just down the street. He could run there, maybe, if it weren’t for the state of his poor feet right now.

“Please.” Jed groans, not above begging. “I won’t bother you. I’ll sleep on your couch. I’ll be quiet.”

More silence.

Then, some muffled voices.

Jed presses the phone hard against his ear to try and hear what they’re saying. He can tell they’re talking about him, but it’s sort of hard to figure out the specifics.

_“He’s drunk off his ass… No… No, I don’t want to…”_

_“Come on… He’s our friend.”_

_“It’s date night…”_

(Date night?!)

He hears more words, some of them clipped and argumentative, like they’re having a little bit of a disagreement, but then—

“Fine.” Hope agrees, although she doesn’t sound happy about it. “Text me the address.”

“Okay!” Jed pumps his fist in the air and because he’s excited, he adds. “Love you guys!”

A pause.

“Uh… love you, too?”

Hope hangs up.

—

They pick him up.

Jed’s first thought is that they both look really hot. He doesn’t voice this thought, for fear of being hit in the face by the world’s only tribrid, but he does stare at them for longer than necessary. By ‘hot’, he means they look dressed up.

Josie is wearing a dress, something soft-looking and ruby red that matches her lipstick. Hope is in a white button-down shirt and a black skirt.

“Were you guys going somewhere?” Jed asks as he spreads out on their couch, legs stretched.

“No.”

“Yes.”

Hope and Josie share a glance and then change their answers.

“Yes.”

“No.”

Girls are weird. _Really_ weird.

“Okay…” He says slowly, because he doesn’t want to unpack whatever it is they’re being weird about. Maybe in the morning, but not tonight.

Everything about Hope and Josie is _weird_. Jed is used to it, since they were _weird_ in high school, too (always making prolonged eye contact and standing protectively in front of each other during Super Squad missions). Still. It’s odd. Everything in their apartment is mixed. Josie’s books on top of Hope’s Fleetwood Mac albums. Hope’s paints beside Josie’s potted plants. He figures it’s not actually that strange, to merge their belongings when they live together, but he has a roommate himself and they usually keep their things strictly separated.

But Hope and Josie are different.

They always have been.

Hope squeezes Josie’s shoulder once before sitting down beside him, laying halfway on his feet. “So, Jed. Why are you wearing a skirt?”

“It was a _dare_.”

Jed can hear Josie giggling in the other room. Ugh. This sucks. They’re probably going to tell the rest of the group and then the boys are going to tease him all year. MG might not, but Landon, Rafael, and Kaleb definitely will.

Josie returns from the kitchen with a bottle of water and a warmed up pillow. She hands him them and he takes both greedily.

“Thanks, Joey.” Jed slips the pillow under his head and cracks open the water. He chugs it all.

“No problem.” Josie giggles again, and the sound is sweet and cute. She’s _pretty_. He wonders if she has a boyfriend or something. “Do you want another?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Jed sits up to steal a subtle glance at her as she walks away. The dress looks really nice on her.

He turns back around and is immediately met by Hope giving him a death-glare. Oh. Shit. Maybe he hadn’t been as subtle as he thought. Still, Jed doesn’t know why Hope looks two seconds away from snapping his neck. Her eyes are dark blue, almost close to turning yellow (he can just _tell_ , it’s a wolf thing). Honestly? Hope is scary as shit. He has no clue why she’s so possessive, over Josie of all people, but he doesn’t want to find out.

Jed forces his gaze to the ceiling. The ceiling is safe. Looking at the ceiling won’t get him gutted by a pissed off Mikaelson.

“Here.” Josie comes back with another bottle and a blanket, this time. He thanks her. “Night, Jed.”

“Night, Josie.”

Hope stands up and sets her hands on Josie’s waist, holding her tightly enough to maneuver her out of the room. Hope doesn’t say goodnight and shuts the lights off before they go, but before the room turns completely dark Jed sees her gently squeeze Josie’s hips. A minute later, Jed hears them giggling. Two minutes later, he hears the sink come on in the bathroom so all he can hear is the rushing water.

The sink is still running by the time Jed decides to try and sleep. He twists to the side, clutching the blanket in his hands, and tugs it up to his nose.

Jed inhales.

It smells like them. Not Josie, specifically. Not Hope, specifically. Just _them_. Which is extra odd, because people don’t usually start sharing scents until they’ve hooked up multiple times.

Huh. Weird...

Wait—


End file.
